The Facebook page for Superman: Man of Steel has been updated with several pictures of Henry Cavill wearing the updated Superman costume. It’s definitely a departure from the traditional costume. However, I’m going to withhold judgement for now because of Thor; the costumes from that movie looked stupid in still shots, but totally worked in the movie.
Having said that, I’m not going to stop you from judging! What do you think of the new Superman costume?
Here are a pair of YouTube clips that show changes found in the upcoming Star Wars Blu-ray compilation. They’re varying degrees of painful. The clip above shows the climactic scene of Luke Skywalker’s showdown with Emperor Palpatine. As Luke’s father (Darth Vader) looks on, he’s torn on whether to support his emperor or save his son. In the original scene, he’s completely silent, but you can feel his conflict. In the new scene, he picks up Palpatine and shouts, “Nooooooo!!!” It’s frickin’ terrible.
The second scene features Obi-Wan Kenobi scaring off some Tusken Raiders (Sand People) messing with Luke’s land speeder. Kenobi mimics a krayt dragon…but in the revamped version he sounds more like Ric Flair screaming as he blades in a steel cage match. It’s not as offensive a change as the first scene, but it’s still not good.
Although Badass News has confirmed the scenes as real, I really hope they’re not. I’m super looking forward to Star Wars on Blu-ray, but now I’m very much scared of seeing stupid changes that are completely unnecessary.
How about you? Are you scared of what George Lucas has in store for the Star Wars Blu-ray compilation?
Hot on the heels of his award-winning (not really) performance in The Chaperone, Paul Levesque (Triple H) is set to star in Inside Out. Costarring Michael Rapaport, Parker Posey, and Bruce Dern, Inside Out looks slightly better than Hunter’s last movie…but that’s not saying much, is it?
Anyway, check out the trailer, try not to laugh at the unintentional comedy, and let me know what you think (please)!
The soundtrack for The Muppets, titled Muppets: The Green Album, looks fantastic! It’s a bunch of contemporary artists doing updated versions of classic Muppets songs. The talent includes Weezer, My Morning Jacket, Brandon Saller (Atreyu), and OK Go. I’m completely psyched that Rachael Yamagata is in the mix too! Her 2004 album Happenstance is one of my favorites of the last decade.
The initial trailer for The Muppets had me looking forward to the movie. The soundtrack just sealed the deal!
If you have a chance, head on over to the track listing page and listen to the samples. Let me know if you’re digging any of the songs on Muppets: The Green Album. Mahna mahna!!!
[I wanted to post this story yesterday, but my crap web host decided to take the day off. Never use AnHosting.]
Before I get started, please know that the videos in the post are totally safe for work. Now let’s get to the matter of nerd pr0n! With movie titles like On Golden Blonde, Forrest Humps, and Romancing the Bone, it’s clear…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, to VPS or not to VPS, the demise of George Lopez, or AJ Burnett’s August record for the last three seasons (it sucks), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Before I get started, please know that the videos in this post are totally safe for work. Now let’s get to the matter of nerd pr0n! With movie titles like On Golden Blonde, Forrest Humps, and Romancing the Bone, it’s clear that nothing is safe from the adult entertainment industry. Recently, a lot of my friends have been sending around the trailer for Star Wars XXX (embedded below). I know there have been adult movies that spoof popular fantasy and sci-fi movies, but why not videogames?!? It turns out that naughty videogame movies are here!
During an email discussion of Star Wars XXX, a friend informed me of Sex Fighter II, an adult movie parody of Street Fighter II. This movie has an actor dressed as Ryu doing…imaginative things to an actress dressed as Chun-Li. On one hand, I’m sure there are people at Capcom, as well as Capcom fans, that find this disturbing. On the other hand, it’s about frickin’ time! In a way, pr0n spoofs legitimizes the videogame business, similar to how a “Weird” Al Yankovic parody legitimizes a pop artist. At least, that’s the way I feel.
Oh yeah, disclaimer: I am not endorsing Sex Fighter II. Now please share your thoughts on the important matter of videogame pr0n. Do you have any cool titles in your head? Have you started writing any scenes that started with, “Then Samus took off her helmet…”?
[Updated with second picture at 7:53 PT] RPadholic tokz tweeted me a picture of Anne Hathaway from the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises. People are divided on whether this is Hathaway in a Catwoman costume or if she’s portraying Selina Kyle in civilian garb. I think the latter argument is wishful thinking because the costume looks like crap. It certainly doesn’t look like anything a real human (that’s not headed to an S&M club) would wear. I think Anne is the hotness, but this costume makes her look like Trinity’s understudy from The Matrix.
What do you think? Is it Catwoman? Or is it Selina? What do you think of the outfit? What the hell’s up with goggles?!?
[Update: New picture below!]
Last night I caught a screening of Rise of the Planet of the Apes. As a fan of the original films and a James Franco mark, I was interested in seeing the movie, though not overly excited. I left the Fox lot satisfied and surprised. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a great summer blockbuster that’s smarter and subtler than most big-budget movies. Here are some random thoughts (not a review!) on the movie. Spoilers ahead!!!
– Clothing note: I almost always dress up for videogame-industry events and rarely dress up for movie screenings. Aside from my friend Paul, I rarely see anyone I know at screenings. Last night I wore my usual movie screening combo of Lulu Lemon yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a Yankee hat. I was a little embarrassed when X-Play Morgan Webb took the seat behind me. Oops.
– The movie’s writing was smart and respectful to the source material. It’s easy to make the Planet of the Apes premise ridiculous, but things mostly made sense in this movie. There were a lot of homage moments to the original movies. Some of them were bits of dialogue, some were twists on old action sequences, and others used simple props. All of them made me smile.
– Up until the end, there was a surprising amount of subtlety in the film. One of my problems with the Watchmen movie was that scenes were changed to hit the audience over the head with plot points, as opposed to the comics where things are implied. This movie implies a lot of things that most moviegoers should figure out. For most of the movie, it’s implied that a virus leads to the rise of the apes and the fall of humans. There are also several hints on the movie’s sequel and how humans return to Earth. I absolutely loved that the writers and director were not clumsily heavy handed with plot points.
– James Franco is awesome. I thought he had a bright future when I first saw him in Freaks and Geeks, then I wasn’t so sure when I saw him in Spider-Man and Pineapple Express. He erased any doubts I had about his talent in 127 Hours and he’s excellent in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Similar to how the movie is written, Franco delivers his lines so that you take him and the movie’s story seriously. He’s believable in a role and situation that could easily have been asinine. On a side note, I’m convinced, at the very least, that he will become the next John Turturro — a guy that’s good in every role he plays, even if the material he’s working with isn’t the best.
– Freida Pinto is gorgeous. I’ve always had a thing for sexy Indian girls. And yes, I’m using this point as an excuse to post a sexy Freida Pinto photo. I’m not sure about her talent because I’ve only watched two of her movies, but I sure love staring at her.
– The ape actors in this movie are amazing — by far the best ape actors I’ve ever seen. The simian thespians in Every Which Way but Loose, Project X, Ed, etc. are nothing compared the ones in this film. Hold up, my phone is ringing. Wait, what?!? Gollum (Andy Serkis) plays the lead ape Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes and a lot of the simian action was computer generated?!? Damn, I was hoping for a golden age of ape actors….
– It was cool seeing San Francisco used for a lot of the movie. I miss my old town and it was nice to see a lot of streets I used to walk. It was weird that I recognized certain rooftops and ledges. Why the hell would I remember those?!? Perhaps I secretly moonlighted as San Francisco’s equivalent of Daredevil while I thought I was sleeping. That would explain why I’m not a morning person.
– It was nice seeing Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) in a movie that didn’t involve Harry Potter. It was also neat watching him act with an American accent. There was one scene where he’s facing off against Caesar and wielding a shock stick. It was close enough to a wand that it took a ton of self control not to scream, “Avada kedavra!!!” or “Expelliarmus!!!” or “Stupefy!!!”.
– Overall I really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I haven’t seen a ton of movies this year, but this was clearly the best of the bunch. It’s certainly better than all the superhero movies I’ve (not) reviewed on RPad.tv. I highly recommend giving this film a go, especially if you’re a fan of the originals.
I finally caught Captain America last night. It’s funny that Comic Con 2011 was the reason I wasn’t able to attend a screening or catch it on opening night. My initial feeling was that it’s a fantastic movie — up there with the recent Iron Man and Batman films. Certainly it’s better than Thor, which I enjoyed earlier this year. However, I can’t help but wonder if I’m being overly enthusiastic about Captain America because I was traumatized by the last superhero movie I saw (the amazingly crappy Green Lantern). Perhaps writing down random thoughts will help me figure it out. Prepare for musings and spoilers!!!
– Chris Evans was a fantastic Steve Rogers. I enjoyed him goofing it up in The Fantastic Four and being a Hollywood parody in Scott Pilgrim, but I wasn’t sure if he could pull off Captain America. He totally did. I was impressed by how he flipped between sincere and commanding throughout the movie. He showed range and depth, unlike Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern.
– The way the movie was written, Cap didn’t have any training. He went from receiving the Super Soldier Serum to hocking war bonds to becoming an amazingly skilled combatant with a tactical mind and the ability to fly airplanes. Yes, the Super Soldier Serum granted Cap increased strength, durability, and stamina, but where did the new skills come from?!? Perhaps I missed the part where Dr. Erskine injected him with Tactical Genius Serum and How to Fly a Plane Serum.
– I really enjoyed the tone of the movie. It was innocent, positive, and uplifting. Most of the scenes took place during a time when America was rapidly on its way to becoming the most amazing country in the world. It’s such a stark contrast to the tone of America today. The country has problems and ridiculous politicians — on both sides — are making maters worse. America is in a lull at best or in an irreversible decline at worst. Captain America gave me a feel-good vibe that made me miss my idea of America as a teenager.
– Hugo Weaving was great as Red Skull. On paper, this character should be completely ridiculous. Weaving made him fearsome and believable. More importantly, I stopped thinking of him as Agent Smith from The Matrix. One of my fears going into the movie was that I’d constantly expect Red Skull to say (in Agent Smith’s voice), “Mr. Rogers…we’ve been expecting you.” That only happened once (maybe twice).
– Hayley Atwell was brilliant as Cap’s love interest, Peggy Carter. She was strong, capable, and sexy-as-hell. I wish more Hollywood love interests were like her. I’m so tired of damsels in distress (in movies anyway). The writers made her look silly for a few minutes by including a completely unnecessary jealousy scene that added nothing to the movie. Aside from that, she rocked it.
– I was pleasantly surprised by Tommy Lee Jones. He’s mostly bugged the crap out of me for the last decade. He also made a pathetic Two-Face in Batman Forever. Jones deftly portrayed an intimidating colonel that delivered fantastic comedic lines. It would have been easy to make this character completely silly, but Jones did a great job at portraying a believable military leader with surprising humor.
– The shield usage was powerful, but never ridiculous. The fight choreographer did a great job at making the shield a natural part of Cap’s fighting style. The shield also made a satisfying “thunk” when it hit Nazis. I was worried that the director would go nuts with crazy shield ricochets, but that never happened.
– At the end of the day, I enjoyed Captain America for being a great superhero movie with an unusually positive tone. Most superhero movies strive for a gritty realism that attracts hardcore fans and adults or excessive comedy that attracts kids and general viewers. Captain America, being the (Western) paragon of the Marvel Universe, is way different from the X-Men, Batman, Iron Man, etc. He’s supposed to stand for something bigger than himself. He’s supposed to inspire. This movie reflects all that. The cast and crew did a wonderful job at crafting an uplifting superhero film.
I had a great time at Comic Con 2011. It was lots of fun freelancing for secret company. It’s always enjoyable watching fellow geeks celebrate geek culture. There was lots of celebrity watching to do. And…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the rolling camera bag of your dreams, Amir Khan’s drubbing of Zab Judah, or the passing of Amy Winehouse, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I had a great time at Comic Con 2011. It was lots of fun freelancing for secret company. It’s always enjoyable watching fellow geeks celebrate geek culture. There was lots of celebrity watching to do. And it was awesome hanging out with new and old friends from the videogame business. Unfortunately, my hotel was far away from the convention and it would have been difficult lugging my laptop around, so I didn’t get a chance to “hang out” with y’all. I missed you! Now onto some random thoughts on Comic Con 2011.
– The videogame panels I attended were fantastic. I loved watching hundreds — sometimes thousands — of fans cheer for games and game creators. Unlike DICE, GDC, and E3, Comic Con is open to the public. Watching “real people” mark out over seeing Altair in the Assassin’s Creed: Revelations trailer or geeking out over seeing Cliff Bleszinski was a treat for me. I’m hardly one of those “jaded videogame journalists”, but it was still refreshing, invigorating, and charming watching fans be fans.
– All that said, some of the Q&A sessions were painful. Some people asked moronic questions. Some people didn’t listen to the moderator’s instructions for the Q&A portion of the panel. Some people asked questions as if they were stoned, saying…one…word…every…five…seconds. Yeah, I realize that some people get nervous speaking in public and others are so excited to meet game creators, but there were times when I wanted to bash my head in with my monopod during Q&A.
– The kids loved the new footage from the upcoming Beavis & Butthead. I am so completely down for this. It will crack me up and transport me to a simpler time. Remind me to tell you about the “Summer of Beavis” some time.
– The buzz on comic-book movies was similar to the thoughts here. Most of the people I chatted with were amped for The Dark Knight Rises. Opinions were split on The Avengers trailer. The Spider-Man reboot received a ton of flak. Most of it was because a lot of people feel that it’s too soon for a reboot, but part of it was because some fans hate the new costume.
– During the Star Wars: Kinect panel, most of my friends in the videogame business had the same reaction: “Crap! Now I have to buy another Xbox 360.” It’s completely awesome and the noises it makes are giggle inducing. The Gears of War 3 limited edition looks cool, but isn’t nearly as charming as the R2D2 Xbox 360.
– A lot of my friends were dogging on the DC Universe reboot. I’m mostly looking forward to it. The biggest bummer for me is that Red Robin will not have his own book. I suppose the manly answer would have been being upset that Wonder Woman will no longer be showing off her legs in every panel.
– My party highlight was actually between parties. After Ignition’s fine shindig for El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, I bumped into a bunch of pals from Future. Among them was the super sexy, super fun, and super cool Annette Cardwell. I drunkenly latched onto her for 11 minutes. Sorry Annette! (bsukenyan, I saw Carolyn too! It’s always great to see her…especially when there’s drinking involved.)
– My only party faux pas (that I remember) was spitting up a bunch of my Jack & Coke when a PR lady asked me, “Are you still dating Zoe Flower?” A text message to Canada was sent immediately after the incident.
– During the Street Fighter X Tekken panel, the kid behind me said, “LOL,” “GG,” and “IDK.” I wanted to slap him. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I wanted to slap his mother for letting her son speak in such an idiotic manner. Kids these days….
Deepak Chopra is going to talk about Batman at Comic Con 2011. How awesome is that?!? I suddenly find myself scheduled to attend Comic Con…and I couldn’t be happier! This year’s show looks awesome…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Kona Mountain Coffee’s peaberry dark roast, Samsung finally confirming the Galaxy S II for an August release in America, or Shaq kicking off his NBA TV career by dissing Chris Bosh, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Deepak Chopra is going to talk about Batman at Comic Con 2011. How awesome is that?!? I suddenly find myself scheduled to attend Comic Con…and I couldn’t be happier! This year’s show looks awesome. Check out the amazing panel content slated for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Whether it’s the latest videogames, comic books, movies, or TV shows, Comic Con has it covered.
What Comic Con 2011 content or information are you looking forward to? Are you jazzed for the Halo Universe panel? Psyched for more information on The Avengers, Batman, and Spider-Man movies? Looking forward to George R.R. Martin talking about Game of Thrones season two and what’s next in A Song of Ice and Fire? Let me know what you’re into and I’ll try to dig up more 411 for you while I’m at the show. Please keep in mind that I’m attending a show for another publication (I’ll tell you later) and have to serve them first.
Hey…maybe Deepak Chopra is Batman!
